Joseph E. Johnston Joseph E. Johnston Tweet General Joseph E. Johnston (Library of Congress) Joseph Eggleston Johnston was born in Farmville, Virginia in 1807. He attended and graduated from West Point in 1829 ranked 13th of 46 cadets, and was then appointed to second lieutenant in the 4th U.S. Artillery. After several years he resigned from the Army to study civil engineering and was a topographer for a war ship in the Second Seminole War, where action there convinced him to rejoin the army. He served with honors in the Mexican-American War, the Seminole Wars, and as a quartermaster general in California in 1860. When Virginia seceded, Johnston was the highest-ranking U.S. Army officer to resign his commission. He was appointed brigadier general, and relieved Thomas “Stonewall” Jackson of his post at Harpers Ferry in May of 1861, and then organized the Army of the Shenandoah in July of that same year.

Johnston contributed to the successes at First Manassas, but it is documented that the more junior PGT Beauregard was more responsible for the actions there. In August, Johnston was promoted to full general—what is called a four-star general in the modern U.S. Army—but was not pleased that three other men he had outranked in the "old army" now outranked him. Only Beauregard was placed behind Johnston on the list of five new generals, thus creating a tension between Johnston and Davis that would last throughout the war. Johnston was the original commander of the Army of Northern Virginia, then known as Army of the Potomac. From this position he would defend Richmond from invading Union general George B. McClellan in the Peninsula Campaign. Cornered, Johnston finally attacked in the Battle of Seven Pines on May 31, 1862. The battle was a draw, but prevented McClellan from advancing on Richmond. Johnston was wounded at the battle, providing Davis with the opportunity to appoint Robert E. Lee to command in Johnston’s stead; Lee held this position for the remainder of the war.

After recovering from his wounds, Johnston went on to command in the western theater, and was involved but not fully in control of the conflicts at Vicksburg and Chattanooga. Johnston employed his withdrawal strategies to defend against Union general Sherman ’s advance from Chattanooga to Atlanta, and defeated Sherman at the Battle of Kennesaw Mountain. Johnston’s weak offensive strategy and caution caused Davis to remove him from command in July of 1864. After much public clamor, Davis reinstated him as commander of a loosely collected department of South Carolina, Georgia, and Florida. They were undermanned and under-supplied, but still had some short lived success at Bentonville. After many retreats and withdrawals, Johnston finally surrendered the Army of Tennessee and all remaining forces still active in his department to Sherman in April of 1865. It was the largest single surrender of war at 89,270 soldiers. Post war, Johnston served in many business ventures, and later as a U.S. Congressman before dying of pneumonia in 1891, which was contracted at Sherman’s funeral for which he was a pallbearer. He is buried in Baltimore, Maryland. Want the Latest?

Follow us on Twitter and Facebook: General Joseph Eggleston Johnston General Joseph Eggleston Johnston General Joseph Eggleston Johnston February 3, 1807, Longwood House in “Cherry Grove”, near Farmville, Virginia. His family home later burned down. Died: March 21, 1891, in New York City following attendance at the funeral of William Tecumseh Sherman. He is buried at Greenmount Cemetery in Baltimore, Maryland Childhood and Rearing: Grandfather, Peter Johnston, who emigrated from Scotland in 1726 and later fought in the American Revolution. Father, Judge Peter Johnston, who fought in the American Revolution. Mother, Mary Valentine Wood, a niece of Patrick Henry He was named for Major Joseph Eggleston, whom his father served under in the American Revolution. He was the son of seven children. In 1811, the Johnston family moved to Abingdon, Virginia, where they built a home they called, Panecillo.

Brothers & Sisters: His brother, Charles Clement Johnston served as a Congressman Wife: Lydia McLane, daughter of Louis McLane, Congressman from Delaware Children: None Education: Graduated from West Point Military Academy and was 13th in his class out of 46 students, Class of 1829. One of his fellow classmates was Robert. E. Lee. Military Service in the United States Army: After graduation of West Point he was promoted to 2nd Lieutenant in the 4th United States Artillery. Petty considerations over rank and military etiquette and wounds cost the Confederacy, for lengthy periods, the services of one of its most effective, top commanders, Joseph E. Johnston. The Virginia native and West Pointer (1829), rated by many as more capable than Lee, was the highest-ranking regular army officer of the United States Army to resign and join the Confederacy. Eight years in the United States Artillery before he was transferred to the topographical engineers in 1838, when he rejoined the United States Army a year after his resignation. During the Mexican War he won two brevets and was wounded at both Cerro Gordo and Chapultepec.

He had also been brevetted for earlier service against the Seminoles in Florida. Appointed Quartermaster General on June 28, 1860, and he remained in the service until after the secession of his native state, Virginia. Brigadier general, national army’s quartermaster general for almost a year when he quit on April 22, 1861. Military Service in the Confederate Army: Major General, Virginia Volunteers (April 1861) Initially commissioned in the Virginia forces, he relieved Thomas J. (later “Stonewall”) Jackson in command at Harpers Ferry and continued the organization of the Army of the Shenandoah. When the Virginia forces were absorbed into the Confederate army he was reduced to a brigadier generalship. In July 1861, the Federal army under the command of General Irvin McDowell moved out of Washington to attack General Pierre G.T. Beauregard at Manassas Junction, Virginia. McDowell had an overwhelming force and Beauregard needed reinforcements to match up with his opponent. General Johnston, who had those needed troops was positioned in the Shenandoah Valley.

He managed to fool his opposing Federal force under General Robert Patterson, and move his troops to the support of Beauregard. During the Battle of Manassas/Bull Run, Johnston, although senior to Beauregard, left the general direction of the battle to the subordinate officer due to a lack of familiarity with the terrain. Johnston engaged in forwarding his fresh troops in to the threatened sectors of the battlefield. Following the battle Beauregard and Johnston shared the glory of the victory. They later noted due to critical supply problems, they were unable to march their armies on to Washington. However, with the intense fighting and the heat of the day, the exhausted troops of both armies were not prepared to fight in the immediate. Brigadier General, CSA (May 14, 1861) Commanding Army of the Shenandoah, CSA June 30 – July 20, 1861) Commanding Army of the Potomac, CSA July 20 – October 22,1861) August 1861, Johnston became one of five men advanced to the grade of full general. All Confederate generals wore the same insignia of rank, three stars in a wreath.

Johnston was not pleased with the relative ranking of the five since he felt he was the senior officer having resigned the United States Army as the highest ranking officer. He vehemently opposed being ranked behind Samuel Cooper, Albert Sidney Johnston, and Robert E. Lee. Only Beauregard was placed behind Johnston on this list. This continued to fuel the existing bad relationship between Joe Johnston and President Jefferson Davis. General, CSA (August 31, 1861, to rank from July 21) Commanding Department of Northern Virginia, CSA (October 22, 1861 – May 31, 1862) In 1862, Joe Johnston was given command of the Department of Northern Virginia and became engaged in what was virtually a phony war with the Washington based army of General George B. McClellan. Throughout the winter of 1861-62 he maintained his position at Manassas junction and then withdrew just as McClellan’s superior force advanced. In the meantime he had engaged in a dispute with President Davis over a policy of brigading troops from the same state together.

Johnston argued that a reorganization could not with propriety be carried out in the face of an active enemy. When he withdrew his army from the line of Manassas Junction he reinforced General John B. Magruder on the Peninsula east of Richmond and took command there. With McClellan again facing him, he held Yorktown for a month before pulling back just before his opponent again advanced. His forces fought a rearguard action at Williamsburg and were then encamped on the very outskirts of the Confederate capitol of Richmond. In an effort to drive McClellan off, Johnston launched an attack south of the Chickahominy River at the end of May 1862. The battle of Seven Pines, or Fair Oaks, turned out to be a confusion of errors in the confusing terrain. For years afterwards there was acrimonious debate among various Confederate generals over who was to blame for the limited success. On the first day of the battle Johnston was severely wounded and was later succeeded by General Robert E. Lee who was to lead the Army of Northern Virginia for the remainder of the war.

Commanding Department of the West, CSA (December 4, 1862 – December 1863) Commanding Army of Tennessee, CSA (December 27, 1863 – July 18, 1864) Upon his recovery Johnston was given command of a largely supervisory command entitled the Department of the West. He was in charge of General Braxton Bragg’s Army of Tennessee and General John C. Pemberton’s Department of Mississippi and East Louisiana. With few troops under his immediate command, Johnston proved powerless in attempting to relieve the besieged garrison of Vicksburg under Pemberton. Following the fall of Vicksburg in July, 1863, he made a meager attempt to hold Jackson, Mississippi, against the advance of General William T. Sherman’s army. In the Fall of 1863, following General Bragg’s disastrous defeat at Chattanooga, Tennessee, Johnston was given immediate command of the Army of Tennessee. The next spring and summer he directed a masterful delaying campaign against Sherman in his advance toward Atlanta, Georgia. However, his continued withdrawals frustrated President Jefferson Davis, and he was relieved of command on the outskirts of the city.

General John B. Hood, who had a shattered arm and lost leg took charge. From this point began the destruction of the Army of Tennessee with reckless tactics in the Battle of Franklin, Tennessee. Johnston and his family went in to retirement moving to Columbia, South Carolina for a brief time, and then on to Lincolnton, North Carolina. Commanding Army of Tennessee and Department of Tennessee, Georgia, South Carolina, and Florida, CSA (February 25 – April 26, 1865) In February 1865, with General Sherman’s Federal armies advancing in to the Carolinas, and General Terry’s troops having captured the last Confederate port city of Wilmington, North Carolina, the Confederacy was desperate for a commander to put up a defense. General Lee and the Confederate Congress appealed to President Davis to reinstate Johnston as commander of the remains of the Army of Tennessee and the Departments of Georgia, South Carolina and North Carolina. Davis finally relented and Joe Johnston was once again in command of now only the remnants of the Army of Tennessee. Unfortunately, Johnston now faced some 90,000 Federal troops entering North Carolina. He pulled together his officers of P.G.T.

Beauregard, William Hardee, and Wade Hampton to formulate their strategy. The ultimate objective was to link up with General Lee who was evacuating Petersburg, Virginia and moving westward. Commanding Department of North Carolina, CSA (March 16 – April 26, 1865). In March 1865, Johnston fought the battles of Averasboro, a delaying action at Monroe’s Crossroads, and the largest battle in North Carolina, Bentonville, however, having to withdraw in all of the fights. His exhausted army trudged west toward Raleigh for resupply and reorganization. However, Johnston could not hold the capitol city. During the brief time in Raleigh, he received news that Lee had surrendered to Grant at Appomattox Court House, Virginia. The Army of Tennessee continued to move west toward Greensboro where it was encamped at the time of the surrender negotiations. On April 17, 1865 General Johnston met Major General William T. Sherman at the Bennett Farm near Durham Station, North Carolina to begin the negotiations of peace. On April 18, the initial surrender terms were agreed upon but rejected by Washington as a result of the assassination of President Lincoln.

On April 26, 1865, the final surrender terms were signed. On this date, Federal troops surrounded John Wilkes Booth at the Garrett Farm in northern Virginia, where they shot and killed him. Johnston had been one of the most effective Confederate commanders when he was not hampered by directives from the president. President of the Alabama & Tennessee River Railroad Company (May 1866 – November, 1867). During his tenure of May 1866 to November 1867, the railroad was renamed the Selma, Rome, & Dalton Railroad. He later became a Federal railroad commissioner. United States Congress (1879-1881) Johnston served in the 46th Congress as a Democratic Congressman, but for only one term. Commissioner of Railroads under President Grover Cleveland He served as the Commissioner of Railroads. Private Life Johnston engaged in many debates over the causes of the Confederate defeat, writing his book, Narrative of Military Operations, which was highly critical of Jefferson Davis, General John Bell Hood and others in how they handled the war.

He built a friendship with his former adversary, William Tecumseh Sherman and would never allow anyone to utter a negative word about his friend. Johnston died of a cold believed to have been caught while serving as an honorary pallbearer in the funeral service in New York City of his friend and former foe William Tecumseh Sherman. He was buried in Green Mount Cemetery in Baltimore, Maryland. Campaigns & Battles Battle of First Manassas, Virginia 1862 Battle of Seven Pines (Fair Oaks), Virginia Johnston is severely wounded and has to be relieved of command. 1863 Battle of New Hope Church, Georgia Battle of Dallas, Georgia Battle of Picket’s Mill, Georgia Battle of Kolb Farm, Georgia Battle of Kennesaw Mountain, Georgia Battle Peachtree Creek, Georgia Quotes from Joseph Johnston: “The shot that struck me down was the best ever fired for the Confederacy.” General Joseph Johnston, after being wounded at the Battle of Seven Pines and being replaced by Lee, 1862.

“I cannot direct both parts of my command at once.” General Joseph Johnston, letter to President Jefferson Davis over the difficulties of directing the Army of Mississippi under Pemberton and the Army of Tennessee under Bragg, 1863. “Confident language by a military commander is not usually regarded as evidence of competency.” General Joseph Johnston, letter to Richmond after learning he had been replaced by General John Bell Hood, 1864. “The news that General Johnston had been removed from command of the army opposed to us was received by our officers with universal rejoicing.” — Maj. Gen. Joseph Hooker, after learning Jefferson Davis had relieved Johnston of command of the Army of Tennessee, which had been fighting a delaying action against Sherman’s advancing army, July 1864. “No officer or soldier who ever served under me will question the generalship of Joseph E. Johnston. His retreats were timely, in good order, and he left nothing behind.” Maj. Gen. William T. Sherman, 1864. Johnston’s Farewell Order General Order No.

22 April 1865 “Comrades: In terminating our official relations, I earnestly exhort you to observe faithfully the terms of pacification agreed upon and discharge the obligations of good and peaceful citizens, as well as you have performed the duties of thorough soldiers in the field. By such a course, you will best secure the comfort of your families and kindred and restore tranquility to our country. You will return to your homes with the admiration of our people, won by the courage and noble devotion you have displayed in this long war. I shall always remember with pride the loyal support and generous confidence you have given me. I now part with you with deep regret – and bid you farewell with feelings of cordial friendship and with earnest wishes that you may have hereafter all the prosperity and happiness to be found in the world.” “I know Mr. Davis thinks he can do a great many things other men would hesitate to attempt. For instance, he tried to do what God failed to do. He tried to make a soldier of Braxton Bragg…” General Joseph E. Johnston [Confederate General Joseph E. Johnston stood bareheaded at the February funeral of General Sherman in New York.] A concerned bystander leaned forward.

“General, please put on your hat; you might get sick.”. Reluctantly, Johnston replied, “If I were in his place, and he were standing here in mine, he would not put on his hat.” Johnston, Joseph E. (1807–1891) Early Years Joseph Eggleston Johnston was born on February 3, 1807, at Longwood House near Farmville, Virginia. His father, Judge Peter Johnston, was a veteran of the Revolutionary War (1775–1783) who named his son after Joseph Eggleston , his commander during the war and later a member of the U.S. House of Representatives (1798–1801). Johnston's mother, Mary Wood, was a niece of Patrick Henry . Raised in Abingdon, Johnston attended the Abingdon Academy there and then the U.S. Military Academy at West Point, New York, from which he was graduated in 1829, finishing thirteenth out of a class of forty-six cadets. (His classmate Robert E.

Lee finished second.) Commissioned an artillery lieutenant, Johnston served in the Black Hawk War (1832) in Illinois before resigning from the army to study civil engineering. He saw combat as a civilian topographical engineer during the Second Seminole War in Florida (1835–1842), and, on July 7, 1838, rejoined the army in Florida as a topographical engineer, earning a brevet rank of captain. During the Mexican War he was wounded at Cerro Gordo in April 1847 and then again at Chapultepec in September 1847, and earned a brevet rank of colonel for his leadership under fire. On July 10, 1845, Johnston married Lydia McLane in Baltimore, Maryland, after a five-year courtship. Her father, Louis McLane, was the president of the Baltimore and Ohio Railroad , a former congressman, and both U.S. secretary of the treasury and state in the administration of Andrew Jackson. The couple had no children.

In the 1850s Johnston supervised topographical surveys and river improvements in the West and engaged in a long-running battle with his superiors over whether his honorary brevet rank of colonel entitled him to the actual rank of colonel. In 1855, U.S. secretary of war Jefferson Davis ruled against Johnston—the first of many disagreements between the two men—and the U.S. Congress backed him up. But after John B. Floyd , a fellow Abingdon native and related by marriage to Johnston, became secretary of war in 1857, he reversed the decision. When Winfield Scott nominated four officers to fill the post of quartermaster general, including Lee and Albert Sidney Johnston, Floyd tapped Joseph E. Johnston, automatically making him a brigadier general. Johnston's litigiousness where rank was concerned foreshadowed a series of conflicts he would have during the Civil War with Lee and Davis. The historian Douglas Southall Freeman has called Johnston a "difficult and touchy subordinate … though a generous and kindly superior—in sum, a military contradiction and a temperamental enigma." Manassas and the Peninsula Johnston In the meantime, Johnston continued to nurse his grievances from the war.

Against the advice of friends, he published his Narrative of Military Operations in 1874, a book that defended his own actions while finding fault, most significantly, with Jefferson Davis. Regarding Davis's 1861 appointment of Johnston as only the fourth-highest-ranking general, he wrote: "This action was altogether illegal, and contrary to all the laws enacted to regulate the rank of the class of officers concerned." And in defense of his retreats before Atlanta, Johnston wryly argued that because other generals' retreats "had not lowered the President's estimate of the military merit of those officers, I supposed that my course would not be disapproved by him." He then provocatively mentioned Robert E. Lee, who died in 1870 and by 1874 was actively being turned into a secular saint by advocates of the Lost Cause . Davis should hardly have criticized Johnston, the general protested, referring to the Overland Campaign of 1864, "especially as General Lee, by keeping on the defensive, and falling back toward Grant's objective point, under circumstances like mine, was increasing his great fame." In the end, the book won Johnston little sympathy.

Johnston outlived many of his old opponents, attending the funerals of George B. McClellan and Ulysses S. Grant in 1885. He was a pallbearer at William T. Sherman's funeral in New York City in February 1891, but caught a cold standing bareheaded in the winter chill. Johnston died on March 21, 1891, and was buried next to his wife, who had died in 1887, at Green Mount Cemetery in Baltimore. Time Line February 3, 1807 - Joseph E. Johnston is born at Longwood House near Farmville. July 1, 1829 - After graduating thirteenth in his class from the U.S. Military Academy at West Point, Joseph E. Johnston is commissioned a second lieutenant of artillery. 1832 - Joseph E. Johnston serves in the Black Hawk War in Illinois. March 1837 - Joseph E. Johnston resigns from the U.S. Army to study civil engineering. January 12, 1838 - Joseph E.

Johnston, working as a civilian topographic engineer during the Second Seminole War in Jupiter, Florida, sees combat and is slightly wounded. July 7, 1838 - In Florida, Joseph E. Johnston reenters the U.S. Army as a first lieutenant of topographic engineers and receives a brevet rank of captain for leadership under fire. July 10, 1845 - Joseph E. Johnston and Lydia McLane marry at Saint Paul's Episcopal Church in Baltimore, Maryland. McLane is the daughter of Louis McLane, a former U.S. senator from Delaware and U.S. secretary of state in the administration of Andrew Jackson. April 18, 1847 - During the Mexican War, Joseph E. Johnston wins a brevet rank of lieutenant colonel for his leadership under fire at the Battle of Cerro Gordo. September 12–13, 1847 - During the Mexican War, Joseph E. Johnston wins a brevet rank of colonel for his leadership under fire at the Battle of Chapultepec. July 11, 1855 - U.S.

secretary of war Jefferson Davis denies an appeal by Joseph E. Johnston that, following the Mexican War, his brevet rank of colonel entitled him to the actual rank of colonel. The ruling would be the first of many disagreements between the two men. 1858 - U.S. secretary of war John B. Floyd reverses an earlier decision by Jefferson Davis and awards Joseph E. Johnston the rank of colonel. Floyd is a fellow Abingdon native and related to Johnston by marriage, and some fellow officers dismiss the decision as favoritism. June 28, 1860 - U.S. secretary of war John B. Floyd, working from a list of nominees that includes future Confederate generals Robert E. Lee and Albert Sidney Johnston, appoints Joseph E. Johnston Quartermaster General. The position comes with the rank of brigadier general. April 22, 1861 - Brigadier General Joseph E. Johnston, the U.S. Quartermaster General, becomes the highest-ranking U.S. Army officer to resign his commission and join the Confederacy. May 1861 - Joseph E.

Johnston receives his commission as a brigadier general in the Confederate army. June 15, 1861 - In danger of being cut off by advancing Union troops, Joseph E. Johnston withdraws the Confederate garrison at Harpers Ferry to Winchester. July 21, 1861 - Confederate general Joseph E. Johnston transports his troops by rail from Winchester to Manassas in time to help decisively defeat Union troops at the First Battle of Manassas. August 31, 1861 - Confederate president Jefferson Davis appoints Joseph E. Johnston full general retroactively effective July 4. Based on the timing of the promotion, Johnston is ranked below three other generals, which rankles him and helps to ignite a feud with the president that will last the war and beyond. March 9, 1862 - Joseph E. Johnston completes the evacuation of Centreville, north of Richmond, where his troops have spent the winter. He retreats in the direction of the capital. May 31, 1862 - Joseph E. Johnston is wounded in the shoulder and chest at the Battle of Seven Pines during the Peninsula Campaign.

November 12, 1862 - Confederate president Jefferson Davis appoints Joseph E. Johnston to command the Department of the West, which includes two major armies—one commanded by Braxton Bragg and the other by John C. Pemberton—and lesser forces between the Appalachian Mountains and the Mississippi River. May 13, 1863 - As Union brigadier general Ulysses S. Grant tightens his noose around the Mississippi River town of Vicksburg, Mississippi, Joseph E. Johnston arrives in Jackson, having been given command of Confederate forces in the state. July 4, 1863 - Confederate lieutenant general John C. Pemberton surrenders Vicksburg, Mississippi, to Ulysses S. Grant. He chooses Independence Day in hopes that Grant will provide him better terms. This is a turning point of the war, splitting the Confederacy in two. It comes a day after the Confederate loss at Gettysburg. September 19–20, 1863 - Confederate general Joseph E. Johnston reinforces Braxton Bragg with two divisions and contributes to the Confederate victory at Chickamauga, Georgia.

December 16, 1863 - After the Confederate loss at the Battle of Chattanooga, Joseph E. Johnston is appointed commander of the Army of Tennessee. He replaces Braxton Bragg. May 13–14, 1864 - During the Atlanta Campaign, Confederate general Joseph E. Johnston repulses William T. Sherman's attack at the Battle of Resaca. May 19, 1864 - During the Atlanta Campaign, Confederate general Joseph E. Johnston attempts but fails to trap William T. Sherman's army at Cassville. May 25, 1864 - During the Atlanta Campaign, Confederate general Joseph E. Johnston repulses William T. Sherman's attack at New Hope Church. June 27, 1864 - During the Atlanta Campaign, Confederate general Joseph E. Johnston repulses William T. Sherman's attack at Kennesaw Mountain. July 17, 1864 - Convinced that he was willing to give up Atlanta, Confederate president Jefferson Davis relieves Joseph E. Johnston of command in favor of John Bell Hood.

It is a highly controversial decision, and while Hood attacks more openly, he loses more men, and Atlanta falls on September 1. February 22, 1865 - Confederate president Jefferson Davis reappoints Joseph E. Johnston commander of the Army of Tennessee. March 19, 1865 - At the Battle of Bentonville in North Carolina, Confederate general Joseph E. Johnston fails to stop the advance of William T. Sherman. April 26, 1865 - Confederate general Joseph E. Johnston surrenders his army to William T. Sherman, receiving the same terms afforded Robert E. Lee at Appomattox. 1874 - Former Confederate general Joseph E. Johnston publishes his Narrative of Military Operations, an account of his own actions during the Civil War and an attack, most significantly, on Confederate president Jefferson Davis. The book wins Johnston little sympathy. February 22, 1887 - Lydia Johnston, wife of former Confederate general Joseph E. Johnston, dies. March 21, 1891 - Former Confederate general Joseph E. Johnston dies a few weeks after catching a cold while serving as a pallbearer at William T.

Sherman's funeral in New York City. He is buried next to his wife at Green Mount Cemetery in Baltimore, Maryland. Categories References Further Reading Connelly, Thomas L. Autumn of Glory: The Army of Tennessee, 1862–1865. Baton Rouge: Louisiana State University Press, 1971. Connelly, Thomas L., and Archer Jones. The Politics of Command: Factions and Ideas in Confederate Strategy. Baton Rouge: Louisiana State University Press, 1973. Escott, Paul D. Military Necessity: Civil-Military Relations in the Confederacy. Westport, Conn.: Praeger Security International, 2006. Johnston, Joseph E. Narrative of Military Operations Directed During the Late War Between the States. 1874. Reprinted with an introduction by Frank E. Vandiver. Bloomington: Indiana University Press, 1959. Newton, Steven H. Joseph E. Johnston and the Defense of Richmond. Lawrence: University Press of Kansas, 1998. Symonds, Craig L. Joseph E. Johnston: A Civil War Biography. New York: W. W.

Norton, 1992. Vandiver, Frank E. Rebel Brass: The Confederate Command System. Baton Rouge: Louisiana State University Press, 1956. Woodworth, Steven E. No Band of Brothers: Problems in the Rebel High Command. Columbia: University of Missouri Press, 1999. External Links Cite This Entry APA Citation: Bell, J. L., Jr., & Wolfe, B. Joseph E. Johnston (1807–1891). (2014, October 21). In Encyclopedia Virginia. Retrieved from MLA Citation: Bell, John L., Jr. and Brendan Wolfe. "Joseph E. Johnston (1807–1891)." Encyclopedia Virginia. Virginia Foundation for the Humanities, 21 Oct. 2014. Web. READ_DATE. First published: October 6, 2009 | Last modified: October 21, 2014 Contributed by John L. Bell Jr. and Brendan Wolfe . John L. Bell Jr. is a professor emeritus at Western Carolina University in Cullowhee, North Carolina.

Brendan Wolfe is managing editor of Encyclopedia Virginia. Give feedback about this entry Name (Optional) Joseph E. Johnston - Miss Rich: Civil War Miss Rich: Civil War Joseph E. Johnston Confederate General Joseph Johnston General Joseph Eggleston Johnston was a top military commander for the Confederate Army during the American Civil war. He had many successes as well as a considerable amount of failures that would lead to his downfall as a military leader. Early life: Joseph Eggleston Johnston was born on February 3rd, 1807 in Farmville, Virginia. he was born into an army family. His father Peter Johnston, served in the American Revolution. his mother was the niece of Patrick Henry who was an important political figure. Johnston graduated form the United States Military Academy at West Point in 1829. He graduated with high standings ranking number 13 out of 46 cadets. He was then appointed 2nd lieutenant in the 4th U.S. Artillery. From the 1830s until the start of the Civil War, Johnston gained an excellent reputation as a topographical engineer in the Southwest, a lieutenant colonel of the U.S.

First Cavalry, a quartermaster general of the U.S. Army. This was a position he resigned from in 1861in order to join the Confederate Army forces. His credits include the Black Hawk War of 1832, the Seminole WAr of 1836, and Mexican- American War of 1846. Civil War: When Virginia seceded the union, Joseph Johnston became the highest-ranking U.S. Army officer to resign his commission. Johnston was appointed brigadier general, and contributed to the successes at First Manassas. In August, Johnston was promoted to full general. He was upset by the fact that the three other men he outranked in the "old army" now outranked him. Now, the only general beneath him was Beauregard. This created tensions between Johnston and Davis that would last through out the whole war. First battle of Bull Run; Johnston lead troops to confederate victory Johnston partnered up with Pierre Gustave Toutant Beauregard and together they lead the Confederate army to a victory at the First Battle of Bull Run in July 1861. General Joseph E.

Johnston was the original commander of the Army of the Potomac (Army of Northern Virginia). His main goal was to prevent Union general George McClellan from invading Richmond. Johnston led his first attack against McClellan in the Battle of Seven Pines in May 31st, 1862. The outcome of the battle was a draw (tie). It was considered a success on Johnston's part because the Battle prevented McClellan form advancing and invading Richmond, Virginia. It was also a personal loss because Johnston was injured on the battlefield. This provided Davis the opportunity to appoint Robert E. Lee the commander of Northern Virginia in Johnston's place. After his wounds fully healed, Johnston went on to command the confederate forces in Tennessee and Mississippi. Johnston's men loved and respected him. His outward appearance was small and weak, but to his superiors, he came of arrogant and had a superior attitude towards anything that had to do with the military. When the Mississippi citadel of Vicksburg fell in July 1863, Johnston was blamed for his delay in supporting John Pemberton's beleaguered forces.

Davis and the press criticized Johnston's cautious nature harshly after the surrender of Vicksburg. He was temporarily put on probation and relieved of his command for failing to stop the Union from advancing. In December of 1863, Johnston found himself in charge of the Army of Tennessee after Braxton Bragg lost Chattanooga to the Federals.This time he faced the Union General Sherman in the Atlanta campaign. Johnston used a series of backward maneuvers until his troop lined up just outside of Atlanta. Although he had strong defensive strategies, his offensive strategies were weak. Davis grew impatient with Johnston's "timid generalship" (Waugh) causing him again to remove Johnston form command. He was replaced by the feisty Texan John Bell Hood who suffered another defeat and surrendered Atlanta on September 2nd, 1864. After a while, Davis rehired Johnston as a commander of a department of South Carolina. After countless retreats and withdrawals, Johnston finally surrendered the Army of Tennessee and all the remaining active forces to Sherman on April 26th,1865. This surrender turned out to be the largest at 89,270 soldiers.

Post Civil War: After the Union was reunited and the Civil War was officially over, Johnston's postwar career turned out to be more successful than his war career. He was a prosperous businessman in railroad and insurance and even served as a U.S. Congressman from Virginia. Johnston published his memoirs in 1874, and served as a popular public speaker at veterans reunions throughout the South. Occasionally, he was invited to speak at Northern veterans organizations where he spread his ideas of peace and harmony between the two sections. When he was 84 years old, he became a sad tragic symbol of reunion when he caught pneumonia.The ironic thing about Johnston's death was that he caught pneumonia while serving as a pallbearer at General Sherman's funeral. He died on March 21st, 1891 at his home in Washington, D.C. He was buried in Baltimore, Maryland. Monument of Joseph E. Johnston located on the Bentonville Battlefield Works Cited: Joseph E. Johnston Joseph E. Johnston Joseph Eggleston Johnston (1807-1891) Biography Johnston, JOSEPH EGGLESTON, military officer; born in Longwood. Va., Feb.

3, 1809; graduated at West Point in 1829, and entered the artillery. He served in the wars with the Florida Indians, and with Mexico , in which he was twice wounded. He became lieutenant-colonel of cavalry in 1855, and quartermaster-general, with the rank of brigadier-general, in June. 1860. He joined the Confederates in the spring of 1861 , and was commissioned a major-general the Army of Virginia. He was in command at the battle of Bull Run , and fought gallantly on the Virginia peninsula, until wounded at the battle of Fair Oaks , or Seven Pines (1862), when he was succeeded by Robert E. Lee . He afterwards opposed Grant and Sherman in the Mississippi Valley. He was in command during the Atlanta campaign in 1864 until July, when he was superseded by General Hood . Joseph Eggleston Johnston When Johnston heard of Sherman's raid, and perceived that Polk could not resist him, he sent two divisions of Hardee 's corps, under Generals Stewart and Anderson, to assist Polk .

Grant , in command at Chattanooga (February, 1864), sent General Palmer with a force to counteract this movement. Palmer moved with his corps directly upon Dalton (Feb. 22), where Johnston was encamped. The confederates were constantly pushed back and there was almost continual heavy skirmishing. In the center of Rocky Face Valley, on a rocky eminence, the Confederates made a stand, but were soon driven from the crest by General Turchin, after a severe struggle. The Confederates rallied, and, returning with an overwhelming force, retook the hill. Palmer, finding his adversaries gathering in force larger than his own, and learning that the object of his expedition had been accomplished, in the calling hack of Hardee by Johnston, fell back and took post (March 10) at Ringgold. In this short campaign the Nationals lost 350 killed and wounded; the Confederates about 200. With the surrender of Robert E. Lee , the Civil War was virtually ended. Although he was general-in-chief, his capitulation included only the Army of Northern Virginia. That of Johnston, in North Carolina, and smaller bodies, were yet in the field.

When Sherman, who confronted Johnston, heard of the victory at Five Forks and the evacuation of Petersburg and Richmond , he moved on Johnston ( April 10, 1865) , with his whole army. The latter was at Smithfield, on the Neuse River, with fully 39,000 men, Jefferson Davis and the Confederate cabinet were then at Danville, on the southern border of Virginia, and had just proposed to Johnston a plan whereby they might secure their own personal safety and the treasures they had brought with them from Richmond. It was to disperse his army, excepting two or three batteries of artillery, the cavalry, and as many infantry as he could mount. with which he should form a guard for the "government." and strike for the Mississippi and beyond. with Mexico as their final objective. Johnston spurned the proposition, and deprecating the example of Lee in continuing what he knew to be a hopeless war, had the moral courage to do his duty according to the dictates of his conscience and his nice sense of honor.

He refused to fight any more, or to basely desert his army far away from their home, as the "government" proposed, and stated frankly to the people of North and South Carolina, Georgia, and Florida, included within his military department, that "war could not be longer continued by them, except as robbers," and that he should take measures to stop it and save the army and people from further evil, and " avoid the crime of waging a hopeless war." Sherman was pushing Johnston with great vigor, when the former received a note from the latter (April 14, 1865), asking if a temporary suspension of active hostilities might he arranged to allow the "civil authorities to enter into the needful arrangements to terminate the existing war." Sherman promptly replied that he would do so, and was willing to hold a conference. He said that, as a basis of action, he would undertake to abide by the terms made by Grant and Lee at Appomattox Court-house. Sherman and Johnston met at Durham's Station, half-way between Raleigh and Hillsboro, at ten o'clock. April 17.

Johnston said he regarded the Confederate cause as lost, and admitted that Grant's terms were magnanimous; but he insisted upon conditions involving political guarantees, which Sherman had no authority to grant. At a second conference the next day, Sherman consented to a memorandum of agreement as a basis for the consideration of the government, which, if carried out, mould have instantly restored to all persons engaged in the rebellion every right and privilege, social and political, to which they had enjoyed before the war, without any liability of punishment. It was adroitly drawn up by Breckinridge, and was signed by the respective commanding generals. The national government instantly rejected it. and General Grant was sent to Raleigh to declare that rejection, which he did April 24, and proclaimed that the truce would end in forty-eight hours. This notification was accompanied by a demand for the surrender of Johnston's army , on the terms granted to Lee . The capitulation was agreed upon at the house of James Bennett , near Durham's Station, April 26. About 25,000 troops were surrendered. The capitulation included all the troops in Johnston's military department.

General Taylor surrendered at Citronelle, Ala., to General Canby , on the same terms, and the Confederate navy on the Tombigbee River was surrendered by Commander Farrand to Rear -Admiral Thatcher. After the war he engaged in the fire insurance business; was a Democratic member of Congress in 1876ï¿½78; and United States commissioner of rail-roads in 1885ï¿½89. He died in Washington, D. C. , March 21, 1891. PLACE OF JOHNSTON'S SURRENDER TO SHERMAN. Joseph E. Johnston - American Civil War General Updated August 12, 2015. Joseph E. Johnston - Early Life: Joseph Eggleston Johnston was born February 3, 1807, near Farmville, VA. The son of Judge Peter Johnston and his wife Mary, he was named for his father's commanding officer during the American Revolution . Educated locally, Johnston was accepted to West Point in 1825. A member of the same class as Robert E.

Lee , he was a good student and graduated in 1829 ranked 13 of 46. Commissioned as a second lieutenant, Johnston received an assignment to the 4th US Artillery. In March 1837, he left the army to begin studying civil engineering. Joseph E. Johnston - Antebellum Career: Later that year, he joined a surveying expedition to Florida as a topographical engineer. Led by Lieutenant William Pope McArthur, the group arrived during the Second Seminole War . On January 18, 1838, they were attacked while ashore at Jupiter, FL. In the fighting, Johnston was grazed in the scalp and McArthur wounded in the legs. Following the incident, Johnston decided to rejoin the US Army and traveled to Washington, DC that April. Appointed a first lieutenant of topographical engineers on July 7, he was immediately brevetted to captain for his actions at Jupiter. In 1841, Johnston moved south to take part in surveying the Texas-Mexico border. Five years later, he was called into action with the outbreak of the Mexican-American War .

Serving with Major General Winfield Scott 's army, Johnston was twice brevetted for bravery, reaching the rank of lieutenant colonel, as well as was wounded at the Battles of Cerro Gordo and Chapultepec . Returning to Texas after the conflict, he served as the chief topographical engineer of the Department of Texas from 1848 to 1853. Joseph E. Johnston - The Civil War: After service in California, Johnston was promoted to brigadier general and made Quartermaster General of the US Army on June 28, 1860. With the beginning of the Civil War in April 1861 and secession of his native Virginia, Johnston resigned from the US Army. The highest ranking officer to leave the US Army for the Confederacy, Johnston initially was appointed a major general in the Virginia militia before accepting a commission as a brigadier general in the Confederate Army on May 14. Dispatched to Harper's Ferry, he took command of troops that had been gathering under the command of Colonel Thomas Jackson . Dubbed the Army of the Shenandoah, Johnston's command rushed east that July to aid Brigadier General P.G.T.

Beauregard 's Army of the Potomac during the First Battle of Bull Run . Arriving on the field, Johnston's men helped turn the tide of the fighting and secured a Confederate victory. In the weeks after the battle he aided in designing the famed Confederate battle flag before receiving a promotion to general in August. Though his promotion was backdated to July 4, Johnston was angered that he was junior to Samuel Cooper, Albert Sidney Johnston , and Lee. Joseph E. Johnston - The Peninsula: As the highest ranking officer to leave the US Army, Johnston firmly believed he should have been the senior officer in the Confederate Army. Arguments with Confederate President Jefferson Davis over this point badly soured their relationship and the two men effectively became enemies for the remainder of the conflict. Placed in command of the Army of the Potomac (later Army of Northern Virginia), Johnston moved south in the spring of 1862 to deal with Major General George McClellan 's Peninsula Campaign. Initially blocking Union forces at Yorktown and fighting at Williamsburg , Johnston began a slow withdrawal west. Nearing Richmond, he was forced to make a stand and attacked the Union army at Seven Pines on May 31.

Though he halted McClellan's advance, Johnston was badly wounded in the shoulder and chest. Taken to the rear to recover, command of the army was given to Lee. Criticized for giving ground before Richmond, Johnston was one of a few who had immediately recognized that the Confederacy lacked the material and manpower of the Union and he worked to protect these limited assets. As a result, his frequently surrendered ground while seeking to protect his army and find advantageous positions from which to fight. Joseph E. Johnston - In the West: Recovering from his wounds, Johnston was given command of the Department of the West. From this position, he oversaw the actions of General Braxton Bragg 's Army of Tennessee and Lieutenant General John Pemberton 's command at Vicksburg. With Major General Ulysses S. Grant campaigning against Vicksburg, Johnston desired Pemberton to unite with him so that their combined force could defeat the Union army. This was blocked by Davis who desired Pemberton to stay within the Vicksburg defenses. Lacking the men to challenge Grant, Johnston was forced to evacuate Jackson, MS allowing the city to be taken and burned.

With Grant besieging Vicksburg , Johnston returned to Jackson and worked to build a relief force. Departing for Vicksburg in early July, he learned that the city had capitulated on the Fourth of July. Falling back to Jackson, he was driven from the city later that month by Major General William T. Sherman . That fall, following his defeat at the Battle of Chattanooga , Bragg asked to be relieved. Reluctantly, Davis appointed Johnston to command the Army of Tennessee in December. Assuming command, Johnston came under pressure from Davis to attack Chattanooga, but was unable to so because of a lack of supplies. Joseph E. Johnston - The Atlanta Campaign: Anticipating that Sherman's Union forces at Chattanooga would move against Atlanta in the spring, Johnston built a strong defensive position at Dalton, GA. When Sherman began advancing in May, he avoided direct assaults on the Confederate defenses and instead began a series of turning maneuvers which forced Johnston to abandon position after position. Giving up space for time, Johnston fought a series of small battles at places such as Resaca and New Hope Church. On June 27, he succeeded in halting a major Union assault at Kennesaw Mountain , but again saw Sherman move around his flank.

Angered by a perceived lack of aggression, Davis controversially replaced Johnston on July 17 with General John Bell Hood . Hyper-aggressive, Hood repeatedly attacked Sherman but lost Atlanta that September. Joseph E. Johnston - Final Campaigns: With Confederate fortunes flagging in early 1865, Davis was pressured to give the popular Johnston a new command. Appointed to lead the Department of South Carolina, Georgia, and Florida, and also the Department of North Carolina and Southern Virginia, he possessed few troops with which to block Sherman's advance north from Savannah. In late March, Johnston surprised part of Sherman's army at the Battle of Bentonville , but was ultimately forced to withdraw. Learning of Lee's surrender at Appomattox on April 9, Johnston began surrender talks with Sherman at Bennett Place, NC. After extensive negotiations, Johnston surrendered the nearly 90,000 troops in his departments on April 26. After the surrender, Sherman gave Johnston's starving men ten days' rations, a gesture that the Confederate commander never forgot. Joseph E. Johnston - Later Years: Following the war, Johnston settled in Savannah, GA and pursued a variety of business interests.

Returning to Virginia in 1877, he served one term in Congress (1879-1881) and was later commissioner of railroads in the Cleveland Administration. Critical of his fellow Confederate generals, he served as a pallbearer at Sherman's funeral on February 19, 1891. Despite cold and rainy weather, he refused to wear a hat as a sign of respect for his fallen adversary and caught pneumonia. After several weeks of battling the sickness, he died on March 21. Johnston was buried at Green Mount Cemetery in Baltimore, MD. Selected Sources Joseph E. Johnston | Entries | Tennessee Encyclopedia By Patrick Craddock , Franklin Joseph E. Johnston, the most underrated Confederate commander in either theater of the Civil War and the only man to command armies in both, was born at Farmville, Virginia, in 1807. A classmate of Robert E. Lee at West Point, Johnston rose to the rank of brevet brigadier general in the U.S. Army before resigning his commission in April 1861, to join the Confederate forces. Johnston was made a brigadier general in the Southern army and given the command of Harper's Ferry, Virginia.

From there, Johnston moved his command by rail to Manassas, where he won the first major battle of the Civil War. Promoted to full general, Johnston commanded the army in Virginia during the Seven Days battles. Though outnumbered, his army halted General George McClellan's advance on Richmond. Johnston was wounded during the battle of Seven Pines. While he convalesced, Davis replaced him as commander of the Virginia army with a friend, Robert E. Lee. When he returned to duty, Johnston received the command of the western military department. After General Braxton Bragg's fiascoes in Middle Tennessee, Kentucky, and northern Georgia, Johnston was placed in command of the Army of Tennessee. In contrast to Bragg's strict discipline, "Uncle Joe" Johnston's relaxed and gentle character instantly won the respect and confidence of the Tennessee soldiers. During the Atlanta campaign, Johnston retained the trust of his army despite its desperate campaign against overwhelming odds. Some critics viewed Johnston as unaggressive for his decision to fight from entrenched defensive positions rather than grant his opponent, General William T. Sherman, the choice of battleground. Johnston was relieved of his command and replaced by General John Bell Hood.

Following Hood's near destruction of the army during his late 1864 campaign in Tennessee, Johnston again assumed command. From February to April 1865 Johnston led the remnants of the Army of Tennessee to North Carolina, where he successfully blocked his old antagonist Sherman from combining forces with Grant against Lee. On April 26, 1865, two weeks after Lee surrendered the Army of Northern Virginia, Johnston capitulated to Sherman at Greensborough, North Carolina. Johnston, the commander of the Army of Tennessee, never led that army in a battle on the soil of the state. Nevertheless, he remained the most respected and beloved leader of that army; to the soldiers, he was always "Uncle Joe." Suggested Reading December 16, 1863 : Johnston named commander of Army of Tennessee Introduction On this day in 1863, Confederate President Jefferson Davis names General Joseph Johnston commander of the Army of Tennessee. Johnston replaced Braxton Bragg, who managed to lose all of Tennessee to the Union during 1863. A Virginia native, Johnston graduated from West Point in 1829 along with future Confederate leader Robert E. Lee.

Johnston fought in the Black Hawk, Creek, and Seminole wars of the 1830s before serving with distinction in the Mexican War (1846-48). When Virginia seceded from the Union shortly after the firing on Fort Sumter, South Carolina,in April 1861, Johnston accepted a commission in the Confederate army. He fought at the First Battle of Bull Run, Virginia,in July 1861, and commanded the Army of Northern Virginia during the early stages of the Peninsular Campaign in 1862. WhenJohnston was wounded at the Battle of Seven Pines, Virginia,on May 31, Lee replaced him. After recovering from his wounds, Johnston was sent to coordinate the operations of the armies of the Tennessee and Mississippi regions. Since he did not have a command of his own, Johnston resented this duty. In 1863,he made a futile attempt to relieve John C. Pemberton’s army at Vicksburg, Mississippi. He wanted Pemberton to fight his way out of Vicksburg, but Union General Ulysses S. Grant had Pemberton trapped.

The surrender of Pemberton’s army put additional stress on the already strained relationship between Johnston and President Davis. After the campaigns of 1863, however, Davis felt he had little choice but to name Johnston commander of the Army of Tennessee. The Confederates were losing large sections of territory to the Union. Bragg was literally maneuvered right out of Tennessee during the summer, although he engineered a victory at Chickamauga before laying siege to Union troops at Chattanooga. When Grant broke the Confederate hold on Chattanooga in November, Bragg resigned his command. Davis reluctantly appointed Johnston to save the situation in the West. Johnston took the field with his army in the spring of 1864, when Union General William T. Sherman began his drive toward Atlanta. Johnston employed a defensive strategy that avoided direct battle with Sherman but which also resulted in lost territory as Johnston slowly backed up to Atlanta. Johnston’s command lasted until July 1864, when Davis replacedhim after the Army of the Tennessee was backed into Atlanta. Article Details: December 16, 1863 : Johnston named commander of Army of Tennessee Author December 16, 1863 : Johnston named commander of Army of Tennessee URL Joseph E.

Johnston - American Civil War - HISTORY.com Joseph E. Johnston A+E Networks Introduction Joseph E. Johnston (1807-1891) was a U.S. military officer who served as a Confederate general during the Civil War (1861-65). A veteran of the Mexican-American War (1846-48), Johnston entered the Civil War as one of the South’s senior officers and was appointed a full general. He won an early victory at the First Battle of Bull Run (Manassas) in July 1861, but was later criticized for being quick to retreat during the early stages of the Peninsula Campaign in the spring of 1862. Johnston was severely wounded at the Battle of Seven Pines in June 1862, and was subsequently replaced by Robert E. Lee. He later commanded Confederate forces in the Western Theater, where he clashed with President Jefferson Davis over his cautious strategy during the Vicksburg and Atlanta Campaigns. Johnston surrendered to General William T. Sherman in North Carolina in April 1865. After the war he worked as a railroad executive and insurance agent, and served a term in the U.S. Congress.

He died in 1891 at the age of 84. Google Joseph E. Johnston: Early Life and Military Career Joseph Eggleston Johnston was born on February 3, 1807, near Farmville, Virginia . His father was a respected judge and Revolutionary War veteran, and his mother was the niece of Patrick Henry . With the help of his father’s political connections, Johnston secured an appointment to the United States Military Academy at West Point in 1825. He graduated in 1829, finishing 13th out of 46 in his class. Did You Know? General Joseph E. Johnston was the highest-ranking U.S. Army officer to join the Confederacy during the Civil War, and was the only Confederate general to command both the Eastern and Western theaters of battle. Johnston was commissioned a second lieutenant in the 4th U.S. Artillery, and spent his early military career on garrison duty before serving in a non-combat role in the Black Hawk War (1832). After a stint at Fort Monroe in Virginia, Johnston served on General Winfield Scott’s staff during the Second Seminole War (1835-42) in Florida .

Disillusioned with peacetime military service, Johnston elected to resign his commission in 1837 to pursue a career in civil engineering. He found work as a civilian contract worker aboard a U.S. Navy vessel in Florida, and was wounded in the head by Seminoles while leading a survey party in 1838. Johnston re-enlisted in the Army a few months later and served as a captain of topographical engineers for the next several years. During this time he met Lydia McLane, the daughter of a Delaware politician, and the two were married in 1845. Johnston next served in the Mexican-American War (1846-48), during which he was wounded several times—first at the Battle of Cerro Gordo and later while leading a charge at the Battle of Chapultepec. He left the war with a much-vaunted combat record and secured a promotion to lieutenant colonel. Johnston went on to serve as a topographical engineer in Texas and as a cavalry officer in the Midwest. In 1860 he earned a promotion to brigadier general and was named quartermaster general of the U.S. Army. Joseph E.

Johnston: Early Civil War Service Although he opposed secession, Johnston resigned his commission in April 1861 after his home state of Virginia joined the Confederacy. He was appointed a brigadier general in the Confederate Army and took command of forces garrisoned at Harpers Ferry. Johnston would achieve the first major victory of the war in July 1861, when he reinforced General P.G.T. Beauregard and oversaw a routing of Union troops at the First Battle of Bull Run (Manassas). While Johnston’s performance earned him a promotion to full general, it also set the stage for a long and strained relationship with Confederate President Jefferson Davis , who criticized him for not pursuing the retreating Union Army. Johnston was equally distressed to learn that his promotion to full general still placed him below Samuel Cooper, Robert E. Lee and Albert Sidney Johnston in rank. Johnston had been the most senior U.S. Army officer to join the Confederacy, and he viewed his new position as a personal insult from Davis. Despite his tumultuous relationship with the Confederate high command, Johnston was placed in charge of the Confederate Army of the Potomac (later called the Army of Northern Virginia) in early 1862.

His first major service in this capacity came during the Peninsula Campaign in the spring of 1862, when Union general George B. McClellan attempted to land his army on the Virginia coast and move on Richmond. Against the wishes of Davis, Johnston elected to withdraw from the Virginia Peninsula in the campaign’s early stages. After making a defensive stand at the Battle of Williamsburg, Johnston continued to retreat, eventually positioning his army just outside of Richmond. Under pressure from Jefferson Davis, Johnston attacked McClellan at the Battle of Seven Pines on May 31, 1862. The offensive succeeded in blocking the Union advance, but Johnston was severely wounded during the fighting on June 1 and replaced by Robert E. Lee. While Johnston began what would become a six-month convalescence, Lee launched a series of brazen attacks during the Seven Days Battles and successfully drove McClellan from Virginia. Joseph E. Johnston: Western Theater Johnston returned to the field in November 1862 and was placed in command of Confederate forces in the war’s Western Theater.

In May 1863 he was ordered to take charge of operations in Mississippi , which was threatened by forces under the command of Union General Ulysses S. Grant . After abandoning the state capital of Jackson, Johnston attempted to rendezvous with General John C. Pemberton, who was besieged at the vital Mississippi River hub at Vicksburg. Recognizing that he was at a severe numerical disadvantage, Johnston ordered Pemberton to cede the city to Union control. Pemberton, however, was under orders from Jefferson Davis to hold the city to the last, and refused to evacuate. Believing he didn’t have enough troops to mount an offensive and break the siege, Johnston elected not to attack Grant. Pemberton’s army was forced to surrender on July 4, 1863, and control of Vicksburg fell to the Union. Johnston was widely condemned for his overly cautious tactics in Mississippi, but in November 1863 he took command of the Army of Tennessee after General Braxton Bragg was relieved from duty. Tasked with halting General William T.

Sherman’s march from Tennessee toward Atlanta, Johnston continued his policy of strategic retreat, which he believed preserved his army and allowed him to maneuver into strong defensive positions. This plan proved largely unsuccessful, as Sherman expertly bypassed Johnston’s army and inched closer toward Atlanta throughout May 1864. While Johnston succeeded in striking a blow against Sherman at the Battle of Kennesaw Mountain in June 1864, his reluctance make a decisive stand agitated Jefferson Davis, who replaced him with General John Bell Hood a month later. Johnston was reinstated in February 1865 and took command of the battered Army of Tennessee, which was assembled in North Carolina to delay Sherman’s march north after the fall of Atlanta. Working with General P.G.T. Beauregard, Johnston attempted a surprise attack at the Battle of Bentonville in March 1865, but was overwhelmed by a force three times the size of his own. After falling back to Greensboro, North Carolina, Johnston and Beauregard surrendered in late April 1865 after learning that Robert E. Lee had capitulated several days earlier at Appomattox. Joseph E.

Johnston: Later Life After the Civil War, Johnston moved to Savannah, Georgia , where he worked as a railroad president and insurance agent. He spent the early 1870s writing a memoir of his wartime service before relocating to Richmond in 1877. In 1878 he was elected to the U.S. House of Representatives, but retired from politics after only one term. He was later appointed U.S. commissioner of railroads in the administration of President Grover Cleveland . While he continued his feud with Jefferson Davis even after the war, Johnston was friendly with a handful of former Union generals, including William T. Sherman. A pallbearer at Sherman’s funeral in February 1891, he refused to wear a hat in the winter cold out of respect for his former foe. Johnston subsequently caught pneumonia, dying a month later at the age of 84. Tags

Question: Who succeeded General Joseph Johnston as the Commander of the Army of Northern Virginia?
Answer: Robert E Lee